VAN HELSING Screenwriter Reveals Mad Max is an Inspiration For Universal's Newest Take on The Character

Universal's own MCU — the Monster Cinematic Universe — is in full swing with Tom Cruise's The Mummy, and the studio is going after top-tier talent to fill out the rest of the movies, approaching people like Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, and Javier Bardem over the past few months. They're developing new takes on The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and more, but one of the films we haven't heard much about is their new imagining of Van Helsing.

Hitfix caught up with Eric Heisserer, who is co-writing the new Van Helsing with Prometheus and Doctor Strange writer Jon Spaihts, and the scribe revealed a couple of interesting tidbits about their approach to the character:

“I can only say that early on, our inspiration for his behavior and his mannerisms was all in Mad Max."

The famed vampire hunter has historically been portrayed as much more of a learned man than one who keeps his mouth shut most of the time like Max, so that should be an interesting departure if that outlook on the character makes it through all the way to production.

When Hitfix suggested it might be cool to see a woman play the role, Heisserer directed them to the Syfy series Vanessa Helsing, so it seems certain that this Van Helsing will indeed be played by a man.

And finally, the writer addressed the tone of his movie and how it will fit into the larger cinematic universe:

“It’s early days right now. I can say that the decision that a lot of us made was to go and just write the best movie we could in our own corner and make sure it's good on its own...and didn't necessarily need to link arm-in arm-with anybody else. And to be tonally different from the other films. One may be a little bit more comedic, action-adventure-y, one can be very much a traditional horror piece. That kind of thing. And then we'll see what happens as the projects evolve and we all get a chance to convene and talk, and make sure the movies feel like they're all in the same world.”

Are you hyped for Universal's new incarnation of their classic movie monsters? What do you think about this approach to the Van Helsing character?